In the 20-minute segment, Congalton and I discuss a threatening voicemail I received from News Media Corp. owner John Tompkins. Congalton called me because my wife and I own the Paso Robles Daily News and A-Town Daily News, while Tompkins owns the Paso Robles Press and Atascadero News.

After leaving the voicemail, which can be heard on this broadcast, Tompkins had lawyers send a “cease and desist” letter to me. The letter claimed that Tompkins owned a trademark for “Atascadero Daily News.” A title we were using for our Atascadero news site at the time.

After the threats, I decided to change our newspaper title to A-Town Daily News rather than fight a potentially protracted legal battle.

The “Media War” story played out in July and was covered by KSBY, SLO New Times, KVEC 920, Cal Coast News, as well as being reported in the north San Luis Obispo County newspapers.

Congalton was a great radio host and a pleasure to speak to. It was great to talk with someone who has deep insights into the media business. He was sympathetic to our current plight and gave us a hand up by encouraging people to subscribe to our news outlets. Thank you for the help, Dave!